What to stock up on?

Another benefit of stocking up during the "Great Component Shortage" was benefiting others (family, friends, coworkers, neighbors) and many opportunities to "Pay It Forward" to new reloaders who were forced to learn how to reload because ammunition of their choice were not available.

And these new reloaders became part of many group buys which reduced the cost of shipping/HazMat to the point where they became negligent and I got to make many new friends. Win-Win.

Besides, current cost of components are relatively low compared to recent years/decades and if another shortage occurs, you won't have any problem offloading/bartering at higher "value".

So, stock up!

My Mrs. has been stocking up on water & food (MREs, beans, canned food etc) and I have been piling up the components for a while. She just yesterday put up another 40 gallons of water.

Paul Toms said:

My Mrs. has been stocking up on water & food (MREs, beans, canned food etc) and I have been piling up the components for a while. She just yesterday put up another 40 gallons of water.

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That's a real smart Mrs. you got. We've done the same thing. I have a little ammo and components stored away too.....but I figure if it comes to need food's first. Yet....barter seems worthwhile. I'm too old to get thrilled about hoofing up a mountain after game, but I'd gladly swap some elk for some wheat, beans, or dried fruit and potatoes from a younger hunter-ammo-hoarder!

Livelife makes an excellent point. Do you know how much it would suck to be in a prolonged shortage and have your buddy so short they could not hunt with you? Yeah. If I am stocked up, that isn't happening.

brewer12345 said:

Livelife makes an excellent point. Do you know how much it would suck to be in a prolonged shortage and have your buddy so short they could not hunt with you? Yeah. If I am stocked up, that isn't happening.

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When the shortage started, I got a frantic call from my sister/BIL way out of town because she shot matches and they found all the shelves empty of ammunition. I told them "No, problem" and to stop by on their next trip through town to pick up several thousand rounds of match ammo and 2000 rounds of 45ACP for BIL's occasional plinking loads.

Then my parents called and asked, "What happened to all the ammo?" I smiled and told them I would stock them up on my next visit with family.

And calls from friends/coworkers/neighbors started and fortunately, I was able to meet all of their needs (Other than my immediate family, my reloads can only be shot in my pistols with me present at the range for liability reasons, which they gladly accepted). During the shortage, I sponsored (provided all the ammo) many range trips with friends/coworkers/neighbors that otherwise could not have happened due to disappearance of ammunition (They helped by collecting brass and dropping them off at my house which I PIF to THR members in need).

And when fellow match shooters/reloaders were caught short between group buys, I was able to extend components to keep them shooting.

I PIF most of my old stock from previous shortages during the "Great Component Shortage" and when I dropped off many "gift baskets" of unobtainium powders and primers without asking for anything in return, some of them were actually in tears. And these were big burly men! Yes, things were that bad. (Fortunately my family was getting ready to move to our retirement location, so I was happy to offload heavy bullets and buckets of brass too but still ended up moving several thousand pounds of components)

Will another shortage happen in the future?

I am not sure but if you take some time to shop around and set aside some money each month, you will be able to stock up big when really good sales are run. Once you are stocked up, then you won't have to worry if another shortage will occur.

As to buying too much, don't worry.

Walkalong and many others will smile at this. When I was stocking up on Wolf primers for $14/1000, I thought perhaps I was buying too much. Fast forward to 2019 where primers are $28/1000 and I wish I had bought more. I stocked up on S&B and Winchester primers when they were around $20/1000 and looking back now, wish I had bought MORE!

I don't think we will be seeing $20/1000 primers anymore ... or $78/8 lbs of Promo ... So, stock up when prices are low and items in stock.

I have a feeling like 10-15 years from now, we'll be looking back when primers are $38/1000 and powders are $250/8 lbs and post that we should have bought more when primers were $28/1000 and Promo was $115/8 lbs at Powder Valley. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/what-to-stock-up-on.855885/#post-11225563

Walkalong said:

Buy a reasonable amount of whatever you like to shoot. Prices are good now. If people don't freak out, they will stay that way for awhile.

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If people will talk to their friends and family, and get them to VOTE correctly, then there's no need to "stock up" on anything.

Bayourambler said:

Well ,I understand that no one wants to have to sit idle because he or she can’t get the components they need, but “manufacturered crisis” is a real thing also. Remember the ridiculous .22 bullet crisis!?

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I think I have that one covered with 2-1/2 cases of .22lr...

The time to stock up is NOW while prices and availability are still good

.22 ammo.

I still have powder, primers and bullets from before Clinton’s AWB and I try and rotate. I likely wouldn’t have to buy anything for the rest of my life if I quit trying new things.

#1 store correctly
#2 don’t load out components. It may sound cool to have a bazillion rounds of “super raptor” loaded but when you find something else that captures your attention and uses he same powder or primers or projectiles or maybe just a better load, you are in a less than ideal position and everything stores better unopened in original containers.
#3 buy things that use common components, reduces things you do have to keep in stock.
#4 for the oddballs, get a lifetime worth of brass. Nothing could be worse than getting into something “cool” and 30 years later you have to act like they are little pieces of gold, takes the fun out of it.

How many years worth? That’s a personal decision but if you can make it 12 years, that would withstand a complete rotation in POTUS and both houses of Congress as far as recent history goes, along with availability. That is if someone doesn’t pull a Trump like bumpstock ban on reloading and make it illegal, with the stroke of a pen, for you to have them.

rfwobbly said:

If people will talk to their friends and family, and get them to VOTE correctly, then there's no need to "stock up" on anything.

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Walkalong, by duty, may have to squish this post. But it's short and has to be said for me to sleep tonight......I wish it were that easy......can you imagine the futility for such a one, a friend/family as you are talking about, who is as serious about D "paranoia as you are about R "enlightenment" talking to YOU about and getting YOU to vote "correctly" left? I have some of those, even in my lonely surrounded bastion of Blue in Blue NW New Mexico. (Miles from the evil red cities of Albuquerque or Santa Fe. If I tried, I may have to run for my life and hide.....but you are right....we have to try....or give up being free men with the right to own a gun let alone reload for it.

rfwobbly said:

If people will talk to their friends and family, and get them to VOTE correctly, then there's no need to "stock up" on anything.

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I'm not so sure these days, it seems both sides are willing to sell out the 2A.

Anyway, I've always thought it wise to gather whatever brass you can pickup at the range -- even if you don't load a given caliber maybe your friends/family do or will. Additionally, take advantage of primer rebates like those Winchester and CCI had recently; with the former I was able to get 25% back. If you typically use a shortage prone powder (e.g. Varget), work up loads using powders more likely to be available (e.g. H335). Having spare parts is also not a bad idea such as decapping pins and resizing lubricant.

22 ammo you can't make it/ (well you sorta can but seriously?)

Toilet Paper, water, canned food, batteries, OH wrong crisis

Poper said:

I think I have that one covered with 2-1/2 cases of .22lr...

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I've got just over 50k of .22 LR. I learned on the first shortage. The last two didn't impact me at all.

Beyond that primers and powder. I'm working my stock up to 50K each of small pistol, large pistol, 25K each of small rifle and large rifle.

I'm also stocking up on powder.

I have a 2 pronged strategy to pass the next shortage. First off, I have switched my powders to those produced on the North American continent, and worked up loads accordingly. I have also targeted less popular, "old school" powders rather than the newest, latest and greatest. I currently inventory as primary powders...HP-38, HS-6, H110, IMR4064, IMR4350. I keep enough of these on hand to shoot for at least 2 years, and rotate my stock from oldest to newest. Ditto for primers and bullets. During the last shortage, I was able to fast until one of these became available and restock some of my supply (with lots of annoying 1lb cans).

I noticed during the last run, powders in the pistol/shotgun spectrum were the first to disappear, along with popular rifle powders such as the R series, Varget and H4350. Many of these being foreign made, they took longer to get back into the supply chain. St Marks and GD powders seemed to stay on the shelves longer and return sooner. Never had a problem getting pistol bullets (cast), just had to put up with a reasonable 1-2 week wait for an order from Missouri. Rifle bullets were harder, but I shoot very few hunting bullets, and match bullets came online with decent regularity. It was mostly the plinkers in 5.56 and 7.62 that were unobtainable.

Random 8 said:

I have switched my powders to those produced on the North American continent

I noticed during the last run, powders in the pistol/shotgun spectrum were the first to disappear, along with popular rifle powders such as the R series, Varget and H4350. Many of these being foreign made, they took longer to get back into the supply chain. St Marks and GD powders seemed to stay on the shelves longer and return sooner.

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Good plan and I have done the same over the years by switching to powders made in USA.

BTW, list of powders and country of origin/manufacture - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...g-components-made.577067/page-4#post-10297475

List of exact/comparable powders - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-different-labels.797388/page-6#post-10806193

Why is it as I read this thread I keep having visions of an ant and a grasshopper? Really strange huh?

Ron

Walkalong said:

What's wrong with voting pro gun?

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Everything to the screaming hoards with empty heads, who attack people for just wearing red hats.....I hope the 2020 elections show that most Americans are still sane.....but I worry.

Meanwhile, I've always thought it wise to store food and ammo both....to a point. Try not to attract the ATF. And remember you can't eat ammo or components, so don't spend all your money on that.

In Kosovo, (hope we never experience what they did) the third big thing they missed was T.P. and the fourth was to find enough lumber to board up their windows.....what a hell they went through, all based on ethnics, politics and intolerance.....sorta like those in America today blaming all the problems on Gun lovers and Trump.

During the great 22LR and reloading component shortage, I learned to cast bullets, and also discovered a guy here in town who sells cast bullets for 5 cents each. Then I converted as much of my shooting as possible to cast lead. A 357 lever action and Cowboy Action loads give a cheap, fun alternative to 22LR. For me, it takes a long time to chew through a pound of powder at 4 grains per cartridge. Cast GC 30-30 bullets are a hoot to shoot, and quite adequate for hunting, though they do require more powder.

So I guess my answer to the OP is primers, casting equipment or a reliable source of cast bullets, and concentrate on handguns and pistol caliber rifles that don't take much powder. Oh. And learn to anneal cases so they last a very, very long time.

Having been through shortages since the Clinton Admin, I have a one-word answer.

Primers.

Secure a sufficient supply of primers. Then get more primers.

I also say primers first,followed by a good pistol propellant and rifle propellant. I keep large stocks of Promo/RedDot, IMR 3031, and Trail Boss. Those will cover most of my shooting needs handily. Plan on 6 years of nothing found to reload with or .22/22WMR ammo. I have alot of other cans of propellant also on hand. Now is the time to test out other loads and keep track of results/loads and buy propellant accordingly. Also have the means to cast bullets and practice now. If factory ammo costs less buy it but have a backup plan you know works. I for the record stopped shooting .22 and changed to shooting 38 SPL as it was cheaper per round. The TB is for cast rifle loads and large bore revolver.

One should also note, there are some good deals to be had at estate sales, auctions and occasionally gunshows. Some shooters were holding large quantities and have passed on, and some folks hoarded with the intention of reselling at higher prices, held their stock too long, and found out you can't eat primers or powder after prices and availability came back down to earth. I've been shooting $9 HP-38 and $10 IMR4064 the last few years as a result of one such enterprising soul who got in too deep at high prices, couldn't move it at his markup and needed to pay the mortgage.

By and large, I wasn't taken too off-guard at the start of the last shortage... at first.

I had just gotten into the .308 game (M1a) and, thankfully, had just stocked up on both loaded ammos and components. I was caught a little off guard in 5.56mm... I had less than 1# of H335, and only about 2K loaded factory... completely inadequate. I have since remedied that.

The only other thing was my go-to powder... Unique. I was at the bottom of an 8# keg, and just didn't think much of it... until I couldn't find it. I wound up getting a case of W231 in 1# cans, and 6# of some weirdo powders (IMR4227, RedDot, and Titegroup) just to have something to load.

Primers are the big thing... I have at least 5K of each primer I use, once I break into the next case of them, I buy another.

I also have a reloading strategy. If we get into a shortage, I just discontinue the lesser cartridges I load for and stick to the more popular cartridges on my bench, conserving resources... that saves me stockpiling crazy stuff like .380 bullets, for example. I also have a reasonable amount of loaded factory ammos for everything, particularly the Big 4 (9mm, .45ACP, 5.56mm, 7.62mm)